Modern Chinese-American in a converted soy-sauce factory in RiNo, Hop Alley took its name from the old slang for Denver's Chinatown — a community largely wiped out in the anti-Chinese riots of 1880. The food is sharp, contemporary, full of bold flavours: General Tso's sweetbreads, drunken noodles with brisket, hand-pulled biang biang noodles. The cocktail program leans heavily on baijiu.
The dining room is loud, the lights are low, and reservations are essential at weekends. It is consistently among Denver's three or four best restaurants and the local food scene's best advertisement to outsiders.